Between 8 and 10 November, the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights participated in the civil society gathering “At the UN: Civil society in a state of exception – how to free ourselves from the Stockholm syndrome,” which took place in Evian, France.  

The gathering reflected on the role of civil society participation in formulating, monitoring, and evaluating policy at all levels of governance, including the intergovernmental. The meeting focused on the politics and efficacy of CSO engagement in the multilateral sphere across global health, food, environment, finance, trade and development, digitalization, and disarmament.  

Rossella De Falco, programme officer on the right to health at GI-ESCR, participated in sharing reflections on the organizations’ work in the context of UN Treaty Monitoring Bodies and progressive normative development in the context of private actors in health care and public health care services. Participants attended several workshops on best practices and strategies to increase civil society participation at the UN.  

The participants agreed to continue working together as a cross-sectoral group to build constructive resistance to the emergency-inspired security narratives that now sit at the core of the state of exception. This work is part of the broader effort of GI-ESCR to engage with UN mechanisms as well as contribute to strengthening the movement advancing social rights and ensuring a rights-aligned, gender-sensitive environmental transition. 

The meeting has been organized by the Geneva Global Health Hub (G2H2), of which GI-ESCR is also part, the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation (RFL Geneva) and Public Services International (PSI).